Friday 16 April 2010 12.15 EDT
First published on Friday 16 April 2010 12.15 EDT

Just when you think you've heard as much as you bear about the election, along comes a programme for which you have to make an exception. The Heckler (Radio 4 | Listen here), mercifully, does not promise to "cut to the heart of the debate" or bring you "exclusive insight to the campaign machine".

Instead, host Clive Anderson provides some welcome light relief and – with the help of his guests – takes a sideways look at the issues. Philosopher Alain de Botton gets under the skin of Westminster, while football pundit Hunter Davies and TV soapwatcher Gareth McClean (formerly of this parish) offer suggestions to make the leaders' live debates go with a bang. Plus, FT.com's Robert Shrimsley and Daily Mail columnist Quentin Letts provide media analysis.

For those who prefer the gag-o-meter turned up to 11 on their election coverage, there's The Vote Now Show (Radio 4 | Listen here). Steve Punt, Hugh Dennis and the rest of the hardworking Now Show team are offering comedic biteback three nights a week for election season, with programmes being recorded just four hours before transmission to make sure they're bang up to date on the day's events.

The coming weeks will certainly demonstrate how powerful images can be, leading us neatly to another Radio 4 programme. The short documentary Overexposed (Listen here) tells the story of a group of photojournalists and explains what happened to them since they studied at the London College of Printing 20 years ago.

Radio might seem an odd medium for a show about photography but it allows us to better understand the people behind the cameras – to feel their exuberance and their fear as they travelled the world. It's an absorbing tale of the youthful ambition that took young men and women to Yugoslavia, Angola, Chechnya, Gaza and Iraq and, sadly, took the lives of two of their number.

If you feeling the need to wind down a bit after that, Cerys Matthews is back on 6 Music on Sundays to provide you with a couple of hours of relaxation (Listen here). Celebrity-pop-star DJs abound at the moment – we've extolled the virtues of plenty of them in this very series – but if you've ever wished they'd just put a sock in it and play some music, Cerys is the celebrity-pop-star DJ for you.

Not one "did I ever tell you about the time...?" story. In fact very little chat at all – other than a suggested Sunday lunch recipe and discussion about guerilla art in Argentina. Music is 60s-oriented, gentle and bluesy. Guaranteed to destress you better than a shiatsu massage.